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“Today, we took another monumental leap forward with the launch of Rocket Mortgage, which brings simplicity and clarity to the home loan process like never before, while delivering solutions at unimaginable speed,” said Bill Emerson, Quicken Loans CEO.

While Quicken Loan touted that it launched the first fully online mortgage process, other lenders in the industry are concurrently moving in the same direction.

Guaranteed Rateannounced in June that it launched the first digital mortgage.

“This is a revolutionary change for the mortgage industry, as borrowers are now able to take charge of the process and complete each step of the digital mortgage online at their own pace,” said Victor Ciardelli, president and CEO of Guaranteed Rate.

Regardless of who was the first, there is an increased push for companies to go digital due to regulatory pressure combined with consumer expectations for convenient and efficient service.

Earlier this year, Kelly Adkisson, a managing director at Accenture Credit Services, explained that they are seeing a clear change in customer demographics and needs, and lenders must adapt.

"Millennials are expecting different services and capabilities from lenders,” she said. Accenture’s research suggests the emergence of a new high value customer segment – “Generation D”. Generation D spans age groups and encompasses people who are deeply digital, integrating online and social media into the fabric of their lives.

Quicken Loans was recently ranked as the number one lender for mortgage origination customer satisfaction by J.D. Power’s Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.

That same survey revealed new data that developing functional digital channels and improving operation efficiency is key to customer satisfaction.

“Effective communication remains one of the most important aspects of a satisfying mortgage experience, especially if the process is taking longer than it has historically. As the number of Millennial homebuyers continues to rise, lenders must be ready to meet their expectations. This generation is highly digitally connected, so ongoing communication and transparency via the channels they prefer, particularly mobile, are vital,” said Craig Martin, director of the mortgage practice at J.D. Power.

Brena Swanson is formerly the Digital Reporter for HousingWire. Brena joined the HousingWire news team in February 2013, also serving in the roles of Reporter and Content Specialist. Brena graduated from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri.

Commentary

Every day, people in your community are looking for a new place to call home. But in the age of the digital shift, they are now getting most of that information from their mobile devices rather than more traditional sources.